Texas blues queen to sing at music festival this weekend
Wonderland headlines Blues, Views & BBQ in Westport
Although she’s Texas born and bred, Carolyn Wonderland should feel right at home in Westport this weekend.
The Austin-based singersongwriter, an award-winning blues guitarist and one of the many national headliners at this weekend’s Blues, Views & BBQ Festival, hits the Levitt Pavilion stage with her band at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. When she does, she’ll be stepping into one of the environments she enjoys performing in the most — the great outdoors.
“Shows like the Levitt are just so cool,” Wonderland said. “All over the country, anywhere you play out, it always sounds good. It’s kid-friendly, and I dig playing to all ages. Just being able to play those cool pavilions . ... That makes me super-happy.
“You take it for granted, sometimes,” she added. “In the winter, when there’s not as many festivals, everyone’s got to be 21 to come see you at all the places that you play music. So, it’s kind of cool in the summertime to see a bunch of kids.”
Wonderland, a multiinstrumentalist who plays guitar and lap steel guitar as well as trumpet, accordion, piano, and mandolin, is known for her electrifying stage presence, powerful blues guitar interpretations and strong vocal deliveries.
The singer-songwriter was born in Houston, and, at an early age, took to the music that filled that Texas city.
“It was everywhere when I grew up in Houston,” Wonderland said. “And also there were bars that tended to not bust someone with a fake ID, who would just sit in the corner drinking Coca Cola and watch guitar players all night. Those were the places to go most of the night to hear the blues. I mean, I got lucky in that respect, because I got to sit under folks like Joe ‘Guitar’ Hughes and Jerry Lightfoot.”
Wonderland’s own musical direction and identity soon took shape.
“I got myself a gig book and talked to this club, and they hired me,” said the guitarist, whose real name is Carolyn Bradford. “I thought, ‘What was I going to do? What are they going to call me?’ And a friend in high school, who had me listening to Hendrix a lot, looked at me and said, ‘How about Carolyn Wonderland.’ And I said, ‘I’m keeping that.’ ”
Wonderland’s many music awards soon followed, including Best Blues Songwriter, Best Female Vocalist and Best Blues Band of the Year from the Houston Press in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Her major breakthrough album, “Miss Understood” from 2008, quickly reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s Blues charts and led to appearances on PBS’s Austin City Limits and headlining performances at major festivals around the world.
She continues to tour constantly.
“I’ve been traveling all over the dang place — Japan three or four times, Europe — we try to be there at lease twice a year. This month, I’m home four days, I think. Next month, a lot more driving, a lot less airports. A couple times a year, I come to Connecticut,” she said.
The road also offers time for her to develop her musical muse.
“I’m always writing songs. A lot of times, if the song comes fully formed, it’s usually if I’m driving the late night shift, and everybody’s asleep,” she said. “Otherwise, I sit around the hotel or backstage for the show, pickin’ away.”
When she’s not touring with her trio, which includes Greg Rzab on bass and Kevin Lance on drums, she’s on the road playing in British Blues legend John Mayall’s band, which she joined in January.
“I play mostly guitar in his band, or I might play lap steel on a song or two, and some background vocals. He sometimes asks me to sing a song,” she said. “He’s incredibly generous, the most favorite boss I’ve had.”
Wonderland’s goals are as simple as they are genuine: “I always want to get better at it,” she said.
“I want to make it to the gig on time and not kill myself with a ridiculous schedule. I want to make sure I pay my band,” she added. “I want to see about making the next record. It costs money to make it. So, one of those things will mean it’ll be a little slower coming out, but it’ll come out.”